Helga Pataki - Personality

Personality

Helga is portrayed as being a tomboy noted for her obsessive infatuation with Arnold, which she masks with name-calling and taunts. She is more commonly seen alongside her male classmates than with the girls in her classroom, and is frequently accompanied by her sidekick and right-hand woman Phoebe. In spite of her usually surly nature, Helga unveils a gentler, tender side when in solitude shown in her poignant crooning to her locket that has a photograph of Arnold encased in it and in the sweet poetry she writes dedicated to Arnold. However, Helga's infatuation with Arnold can perhaps best be described as unhealthily obsessive; she keeps a shrine devoted to him in her closet and will stop at nothing to rid herself of any competition for his affections.

Helga typically behaves in a rough, brash nature; she addresses her parents by their first names and is apt to bark out orders in some situations, and sometimes even may behave as something of a domineering bully. However, insights to Helga's home life are often depicted as uncaring and unaffectionate; her parents pay more attention to her overachieving, caring elder sister Olga, her father demonstrates little affection for Helga and is often portrayed as showing more preoccupation and pride for his business in proprieting a store that sells electronics than his daughter, and Helga's mother is portrayed as being drowsy and sleep-deprived, possibly implying drunkenness. It was revealed in one episode that Helga's unconditional infatuation for Arnold first began in nursery school, when he showed her affection and kindness before anyone else had before.