The show may be called Hey Arnold!, but make no mistake, Helga G. Pataki is the true star of the underrated ’90s Nicktoon. A nine-year-old terror with a pink bow and a unibrow to boot, audiences were introduced to the blonde early on in the series – in the pilot, in fact – and was quickly established as the character to act as Arnold’s foil (and potential love interest).
Where Arnold is calm and kind, with a level-head and a big heart, Helga is bold, emotional, impulsive, and at times, very violent, selfish, and greedy. There’s a lot not to like about the character – after all, she seems to harass the poor football-head at every waking opportunity – but there are a lot of redeeming qualities for which the character should be lauded. Here are 5 examples of the worst things Helga has done (and 5 where she actually alright).
Bad: She Gave Phoebe Stage Fright
In the season 3 episode “School Play”, Arnold is cast as the lead Romeo in his 4th-grade class’s rendition of Romeo and Juliet. Helga vies desperately for the part when she hears the lucky girl who plays Juliet gets to kiss him at the end. Only problem? Helga is 4th understudy for the role, meaning she only gets the part if Rhonda, Sheena, Phoebe, AND Lila drop out. So begins her determined campaign to get the four other girls to relinquish the role. What makes this particularly skeezy is that she takes the role from Phoebe, her best friend! Even more awful is that Phoebe was perfectly fine with the role until Helga instilled a sense of stage fright within her. Truly, Helga would stop at nothing to be close to Arnold, even if meant taking out the competition (i.e. her best friend).
Good: She Used Her Resources to Fund Arnold’s Float in the City Parade
Helga may only be a 9-year-old girl, but she knew someone with clout; namely, her blowhard beeper salesman of a father, Big Bob Pataki. Using her cunning and knowledge of Big Bob’s love of promotion, she convinces her dad to fund the construction of Arnold’s float, which was only supposed to be for a school assignment. Even though the float was despised by Big Bob and redesigned by his sleazy associate Nick Vermicelli, then lost control and almost slammed into City Hall, it was still a nice (albeit self-serving) gesture from Helga to get entire class involved for a good cause.
Bad: She Catfished Arnold
In the season 2 holiday episode “Arnold’s Valentine”, Helga steals the letter Arnold received from Cecile - his pen pal from France - and revised it to convince him she was coming to visit him for one night. What proceeded next was an evening where Arnold planned two dates at the same time, and had to run back and forth between neighboring French restaurants in order to keep his crush Ruth AND his pen pal “Cecile” happy. The truth is revealed, but Helga never reveals her true identity to the clueless Arnold.
Good: She saved her sister from making the biggest mistake of her life
In the season 3 episode “Olga Gets Engaged”, Olga’s new beau throws a wrench in Olga’s career aspirations, devastating her parents but elating her younger sister Helga, who always had to stand her in shadow.
At first, Helga enjoys watching Olga’s future self-destruct before her very eyes; it’s not until Helga catches Olga’s fiancé and his two-timing ways that she stands up for her sister and protects her from making the biggest mistake of her life. Just goes to show regardless of how Helga may be, blood is indeed thicker than water.
Bad: She Nearly Committed Murder (Twice!!)
In the episode “Helga’s Parrot”, a parrot Big Bob purchase overhears one of Helga’s sappy love poems about Arnold and escapes, but not before reciting the poem to all willing to hear. Horror upon horrors, the parrot falls in the possession of Arnold and Helga is determined to stop at nothing to silence the bird before he can blab her secret. At one point in the episode, Helga is seen with a chainsaw, implying that she intended to do physical harm to the bird to keep him quiet. In another episode, “Love and Cheese”, Helga diverts a tunnel of love boat down a wrong path, causing it to crash into an area submerged by deep water. Lila can’t swim, and so rather than help her rival, Helga gleefully watches as the poor redhead struggles to stay afloat. Luckily Arnold is there to save the day, otherwise Helga would have some explaining to do at the Cheese Festival.
Good: She Saved Arnold’s Life
In the season 3 episode “Biosquare”, Arnold and Helga are tasked with spending 24 hours together in a greenhouse to simulate what it’s like coexisting in a controlled environment. The two children have a falling out and even go as far as submerging the greenhouse in water. Arnold tries to salvage their science project, but Helga swoops in to rescue him before he meets a watery demise. Arnold would return the favor later on in the episode “The Flood” when Helga falls out of a window and nearly gets swept away.
Bad: She Sabotaged Arnold’s Attempt to Talk to His Crush
In season 1, Arnold had a crush on Ruth P. McDougal, a 6th-grade girl with auburn hair and braces. When Helga learns of Arnold’s plan to get to know Ruth during the annual Cheese Festival, she enlists the help of her friend Phoebe to sabotage every one of his attempts.
In the end, she winds up victorious, but at the expense of what she truly wanted: Arnold’s attention. In one of the series’ more somber episode endings, Arnold leaves no less optimistic and Phoebe leaves with Gerald, while Helga is left all alone as the lights of the cheese fair shut down around her.
Good: She Stood Up for Her Morals
In the season 1 episode “Spelling Bee”, Arnold and Helga are pitted against one another in a citywide spelling bee. Arnold wants to win to afford an electric keyboard, while Helga is pressured to win by her father, as it was the legacy of her sister Olga before her. When she discovers that her father attempted to bribe Arnold to throw the competition, she decides to be her own person and loses on purpose, proving that she doesn’t care about the accolades or the awards. She just wanted to be celebrated for being her own person.
Bad: She Framed the Nanny for Theft
In the season 3 episode “Helga and the Nanny”, Helga can’t deal with the changes occurring in her home since the new nanny Inga moved in. Her parents are happier, the house is spotless, and they finally have a decent meal to sit down to every night. So how does Helga react? By doing everything in her power to destroy Inga. After a few failed attempts, she finally succeeds by stealing Big Bob’s prized lucky belt and intentionally hiding it under his bed in order to frame her for theft. Even though Inga knows Helga is responsible, she doesn’t rat her out, instead pitying her and declaring she’s an angry girl that she hope finds happiness. The episode ends on a depressing note and viewers are left to assume that Helga did what she did because she wasn’t used to happiness and didn’t know how to respond to the positive changes in her life.
Good: She Performed a Christmas Miracle
Helga’s most well-known good deed takes place in the season 1 episode “Arnold’s Christmas”. Arnold selects Mr. Hyunh for Secret Santa. After a bit of sleuthing, he discovers all Mr. Hyunh wants for Christmas is to be reunited with his daughter Mai, whom he was separated from during the Vietnam War. Arnold and Gerald find the government worker Mr. Bailey, who only agrees to locate Mai on the condition that the two boys complete ALL of his Christmas shopping. They come up short when they can’t find Nancy Spumoni Signature Snow Boots, and Mr. Bailey refuses to help them. Meanwhile, Helga has been searching for the Christmas gift to give to Arnold. Ironically, Helga receives the very same boots as an early Christmas present. In the end, she gives up her gift to give Arnold what he truly wanted: a chance to give Mr. Hyunh the best Christmas ever.
