< Hey Arnold!

Hey Arnold!/YMMV


  • Complete Monster: Scheck from The Movie is the closest thing Hey Arnold! has to this trope. While he appears to be a nice if somewhat weaselly developer at first, he's eventually revealed to be downright cruel, with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. He wants to tear down Arnold's neighborhood and build a shopping mall over it because a historical incident occurred there that sullied his family name. While definitely corrupt, that's not really that bad in itself. But stealing and later burning the document declaring the neighborhood a historic landmark, trying to stop a bus - with children on it - by ordering the overpass they are driving on blown up, and being completely willing and eager to run down a crowd of people, including children, with his car crosses a line.
  • Crazy Awesome: Arnold's Grandma and Grandpa.
    • Also Arnold himself at the end of the episode "24 Hours To Live".
    • Curly, with the emphasis on crazy.
  • Creator's Pet: Lila, seeing as she's The Scrappy to many yet Craig Bartlett says he really liked her. Though he does admit he probably could have handled her role in the show alot better, and she would have been potential Rescued from the Scrappy Heap if The Patakis happened.
  • Crowning Music of Awesome: The Parents Day's End Credits by Tim Lang.
    • The whole show for that matter. Am I the only one who finds the music beautiful at times? Take the Lockjaw episode for example. The music was always spot on in this show, never seeming out of place. That musical detail, my friends, contributed to such a great show.
  • Die for Our Ship: Even though she was never intended to be a contender and it's Arnold's feelings toward her that threaten the Arnold/Helga ship, many fans still dearly hoped for Lila to get hit by a truck.
  • Ear Worm: Several, including the opening theme.
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: Curly is easily one of the most popular characters with the fandom.
    • Helga also grew in popularity due to her compelling Character Development, by the end of the series, most people would think she was the main character instead of the football head due to how much spotlight she had. In fact, the show was meant to have a sequel specifically geared around Helga as the main focus in high school.
  • Fandom Rivalry: There was a certain amount of hostility built up towards the Uncancelled Rugrats, especially when Nickelodeon started pre-empting new Arnold episodes... for Rugrats reruns.
    • And a minor one towards Recess, though the other half of the fanbase gets along fine with it's fans.
  • Fixer Sue: Arnold after Flanderization.
    • This is deconstructed in the aptly named episode "Deconstructing Arnold" where Arnold gives up on giving everyone advice because the characters find it annoying.
      • And then reconstructed in the same episode where the kids realize that Arnold's advice really helps makes things better and keeps them out of trouble at times.
  • Funny Aneurysm Moment: At the end of "The Flood", as floodwaters surround PS 118, Principal Wartz stands on the roof of the school singing, "Way down yonder, in New Orleans..."
  • Harsher in Hindsight: Helga, after "Helga on the Couch".
  • Jerkass Woobie: Helga... oh, Helga. Sometimes you'll want to reach through the screen and hug her. Other times, you'll want to reach through the screen and PUNCH her.
    • Also Harold had his moments of this and so did the Jolly-Olly Man.
  • Memetic Mutation:
    • Oskar's slowly becoming a new Weegee.
    • "You keep the money!"
    • Also, Helga's trembling girlhood.
    • "Stoop Kid's afraid to leave his stoop!"
    • ...ADOLF HITLER!!!
    • "Free all the animals in the zoo!" from the episode "Cool Party".
    • "Name: Arnold; Born: Yes"
    • "Hey Maria! Come over here!"
    • "COME HERE FAT BOY! I'M GONNA ROLL YOU DOWNTOWN!"
    • Oskar wants Susie to make him a sandwich.
  • Moe: Phoebe
  • Moral Event Horizon: Helga crosses this by framing her Nanny for theft in "Helga and the Nanny"
  • Nightmare Fuel: Several times, and not just in the episodes focusing on a scary Urban Legend, either.
    • The swarming rats in the subway system, for one.
    • Zombie Grandpa (complete with a jaw that falls off) in a Dream Sequence, for two.
    • The ending to "Arnold visits Arnie."
    • The entire town flooding in that one episode, including the school where all the kids are trapped at.
  • Parody Sue: Lila is so perfect as to be ridiculous.
  • Purity Sue:
    • Deconstructed with Olga, who looks perfect but is a neurotic Stepford Smiler who wishes she was unnoticed like Helga is and has terrible breakdowns once it seems things aren't as perfect as they look. (And she does care about Helga, too.)
    • Some feel that Lila falls flat as a Parody Sue and goes straight into this, though this is probably because her repressed dark side never really comes into play in the show's run.
  • Ron the Death Eater: A good number of people take Lila's aforementioned dark side and blow it out of proportion to say that Lila is a total bitch, even though Word of God also said she's genuinely a good person despite the dark side (which she can hardly be blamed for having, considering her life conditions), and that she and Helga would have become friends as they grew older (as would have been shown if The Patakis spin-off had happened), so Die for Our Ship feelings are pointless.
  • Tastes Like Diabetes: One the reasons why Lila was so widely disliked (you know, besides being an obstacle for Helga and Arnold).
    • To a lesser extent, Olga fell into this too. This is taken to a head during the episode where Olga signs up for a "Big Sister" program... and naturally gets Lila as her "Little Sis." The whole thing reaches parodying levels almost immediately, with Helga lampshading it every step of the way.
  • Take That, Scrappy!: Iggy gets a minor role after Arnold Betrays Iggy what is in function in the plot here? being the punching bag of everybody around
  • Tear Jerker:

Three Year Old Helga: I'm going to Pre-School. (Parents continue to watch Olga and completely ignore her) I'm going to Pre-School! (Walks out into the rain and shuts the door)

    • In Arnold's Thanksgiving Helga gets into a huge fight with her parents during Thanksgiving dinner and takes off after spending most the day with Arnold she returns home only to find her parents and sister all fretting about her being missing. As if that wasn't enough of a tearjerker after a family group hug this conversation happened.

Bob: Well; the main things is you're safe and sound, and since it's Thanksgiving I guess this is a good time as any to say that we're thankful for you being our daughter and being around the house.
Miriam: Yes, we're very thankful honey.

    • The Christmas episode, both when Mr. Hyunh tells what happened to his daughter and when he's reunited with her at the end.
  • The Scrappy: Stinky, that annoying bastard.
  • Toy Ship: Most of the characters are 9, but they're all played a bit older.
  • What an Idiot!: Stinky is offered a million-dollar contract to act like a fool on national television, but refuses because his pride is more valuable to him. Which is fine and dandy, except that his family is practically broke and could really use the money. They live in a shack in the middle of the city, for crying out loud!
    • Stinky decides that his principles are more important to him than to be paid to project an image disrespectful to himself and his heritage. Just because someone's willing to pay you to sacrifice your self-worth doesn't mean you have to do it. As for his family, they've managed so far without the extra money, and Stinky's father would probably been more accepting of his son's decision if he had explained it to him. Stinky probably expected that he really didn't need to explain that sort of thing to him. (The house is his family's farmhouse (see "Stinky's Pumpkin"), which may not look very modern but certainly doesn't appear to be in poor shape, at least from the inside.)
    • In "Wheezin' Ed":

Arnold: Who'd be stupid enough to make counterfeit pennies?

Stinky: Well, this is ironic.

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