List of Wizards of Waverly Place Characters - Main Characters - Harper Finkle

Harper Finkle

Harper Finkle (Jennifer Stone) is best friends with Alex Russo, and always used to have a crush on her brother, Justin Russo, but now is in a relationship with Zeke Beakerman, Justin's nerdy best friend. Harper is a typical teenager, being self-expressive, but a little insecure at times. Unlike Alex, she is a hard-working student and a fairly positive person, but still connects well with Alex. Jennifer Stone does not appear as Harper in "You Can't Always Get What You Carpet" (which was actually the first episode produced, but the sixth episode broadcast—the episode was aired out of production order).

Harper is known for her outrageous fashion ensembles that she designs herself, most of which are "food-themed", such as one outfit seen in the season one episode "Credit Check" which resembled a cupcake. No one ever tells her that her fashion designs are(for the most part) ridiculous. Not only does she create her own clothes but she also makes her own jewelry as seen in the episode "Art Museum Piece", when she starts a booth selling her necklaces made of macaroni, glitter, and knobs from Alex's room. Despite her unseemly fashion choices, she believes it is better to stand out as an individual, and is confident that she will excel at whatever she tries, no matter what people think, and has a habit of laughing out loud when the atmosphere gets tense.

She is oblivious of the fact that Alex, Max and Justin are wizards until the episode "Harper Knows" when Alex finally told her because she felt guilty for not telling the truth to her best friend. This was also the first time Harper experienced the use of magic when Alex gave her a charmed costume with super powers. She is often paranoid of Alex's schemes, especially after she finds out about magic, but reluctantly gets involved anyway. Despite Alex's controlling and manipulative behavior, Harper always sees the good side in Alex and is willing to be accepting of her due to their friendship, to the point where she was the only person who believed that Alex wouldn't participate in a plot that, if successful, would prevent young wizards losing their powers in the Competition. She has known Alex since kindergarten and is always there when Alex needs support. In season three it is revealed that Harper is a cheerleader, which is the only secret Harper has ever kept from Alex, largely due to Alex's typical disdain and mocking attitude towards cheerleaders.

Harper's parents are featured in "Wizards vs Finkles" as traveling showpeople from Romania. They ask Harper to rejoin them for shows but Harper refuses, happy with her life with the Russos while Alex, fascinated with their lifestyle, accept in Harper's place. In the end the commitment and hard work drives Alex away, with Harper's parents leaving for Youngstown, Ohio, for a new gig on good terms with Harper and the rest of the Russos. In "Meet the Werewolves" it is revealed that Harper was born in Nebraska, backstage in a night club, most likely at one of her parent's shows. In "Wizards vs. Vampires: Tasty Bites", when Alex is so fed up with her family's new healthy living, she says, "I'm so desperate, I'm thinking about going to Harper's house", meaning that Harper's house is wild. In "Alex Does Good", Harper blurts out, "It's about time I got some appreciation Mom!", claiming that her mom doesn't appreciate her. Harper moves in with Alex and the Russos in Season three, most likely because of her home. (Although it was also motivated by her father's recent transfer to Pittsburgh and her unwillingness to leave Alex).

In the episode "Future Harper", it's revealed that Harper becomes a famous author, who writes books based on the Russo's wizard adventures, and writes under the name "H.J. Darling" (parody of J. K. Rowling). Alex, Justin, and Max find this out when they go to confront the author of the books (seven books in the series Charmed and Dangerous) that mysteriously mimic their lives. As the older Harper (Rachel Dratch) tells them, she writes her books in the present day because in the future, wizards and magic in general have been outed, and books about magic are no longer so interesting. She doesn't tell the Russo kids who it was that revealed the existence of wizards, other than it happens to be one of the three; the Russos suspect it to be Max (though in a later episode the Russo's are questioned by the government and they trick Justin into revealing that wizards exist); and that she came back in time with the aid of one of the most powerful wizards of all time. This is presumed to be the winning Russo. It's unknown if she ever married someone with the last name Darling, or if she just uses the name H.J. Darling as a way to keep her identity safe in the present day.

In the episode "Third Wheel", after it's discovered Stevie is a wizard, Alex starts hanging out with her more, neglecting Harper. Later in the episode, Harper confronts Alex on how she has been feeling left out. This leads to a heated argument, where Harper reveals her insecurities about how Alex is always taking her for granted and yet she never holds it against her. During this argument, they end up destroying the Homecoming float, which Justin tricked Harper into helping him build by disguising himself as Alex. Mr. Laritate witnesses this and threatens to have Alex expelled. For the sake of their friendship, Harper takes all the blame. Mr. Laritate believes her, considering that Alex never tells the truth, and punishes Harper with one week of detention. Later, Alex somehow sneaks into the detention room and apologizes for what happened. Forgiving her, Harper explains that she only did it because even if Stevie is Alex's new best friend, it's not going to keep her from being a friend to Alex. Alex compassionately says that her relationship with Harper is much stronger than it is with Stevie, by saying that Stevie is her friend, but Harper is her sister. When Stevie later appears to recruit Alex to aid her in a plot to destroy the power transference technology and thus prevent any younger wizards from losing their powers in the competition, Harper continues to believe that Alex will come through and do the right thing even when Justin is convinced that Alex has gone evil. Alex warmly thanks Harper for her faith in her after her true agenda is revealed when she freezes Stevie and allows Stevie's brother Warren to inherit his full powers.

At times Jerry and Theresa like to take credit for Harper being their daughter, as in the episode Marathoner Helper. Justin then says, "C'mon she's not your daughter." And as Alex walks in eating a hot dog with cereal he says, "That's your daughter."

She usually shouts 'See ya in PE' and screams when she is scared or nervous. In Helping Hand, she screams while laughing stating she is scared and happy.