List of Hey Arnold! characters
This is a listing of characters from the Nickelodeon animated television series Hey Arnold! and Hey Arnold!: The Movie.
Main characters
Arnold
Arnold (voiced by Toran Caudell in season 1; Phillip Van Dyke in seasons 2–3; Spencer Klein in seasons 4–5; Alex D. Linz in season 5) is the nice, kind, optimistic nine-year-old protagonist and title character of the series. He is a dreamer and an idealist who always tries to see the best in people and do the right thing. Whenever he sees someone in trouble, especially Helga, Arnold goes out of his way to help them out, even if it is not sensible to do so. Arnold often acts as the stable center to those around him, whether he is around his "family" in his paternal grandparents' boarding house, or around his friends at school. He lives in Sunset Arms boarding house with his grandparents, Phil and Getrude.
Arnold has had two major crushes in the series: one with sixth-grader Ruth McDougal (through most of season 1), and one with a classmate named Lila Sawyer (introduced in season 2). However, his most catalytic relationship is with his classmate Helga Pataki. Helga is secretly in love with him, though to keep these feelings secret she bullies Arnold. Arnold is completely unaware of this fact for most of the series, other than the occasional hint from Helga and other classmates. Helga revealed her secret to Arnold during Hey Arnold!: The Movie, but Arnold gave Helga the opportunity to take back her confession, attributing it to "the heat of the moment". According to series creator Craig Bartlett, had the canceled "Jungle Movie" sequel been animated, Arnold would have returned Helga's feelings with a kiss of his own, with his best friend interrupting the moment. Arnold is friends with most of his fellow fourth-graders, with the best of which being Gerald Johanssen, whose friendship dates as far back as preschool.
