Helga Pataki

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Helga Geraldine Pataki is a fictional character in the Nickelodeon animated television series Hey Arnold!. She is voiced by Francesca Marie Smith.

[edit] Name

Helga's second name "Geraldine" is a tribute to former Nickelodeon executive Geraldine Laybourne and has never been mentioned on the show except by her initial. In the series, Helga's sister is named Olga. The names Olga and Helga are variants (respectively, Russian and German) of the same name. Thus Saint Olga, a princess of Kievan Rus, was called "Olga" by her Slavic subjects and "Helga" by Varangian ones.

[edit] Personality

Helga is something of a tomboy, as evidenced by her interest in playing contact sports alongside her male classmates, blatant lack of femininity, and disregard, to near dislike, for stereotypical female behavior, as seen in the episode "Helga's Makeover". She can also be very cynical and bossy, bullying her fourth-grade classmates with an iron fist, and often taking advantage of her best friend, Phoebe. However, Helga also has a much softer side, which becomes apparent mostly when she is alone and in her school work. She is heavily emotional, and as such, able to comprehend spectrum emotions such as love and hate. This emotional extremity is a running joke throughout the series; although Helga is seen as a "tough girl" by her classmates, she is frequently the first to go into hysterics in times of crisis.

Helga is extremely intelligent. In the episode "The Aptitude Test", in which the class takes a standardized exam, it is eventually revealed that she achieved a perfect score on the test and the most outstanding result since her perfectionist sister, Olga Pataki, took the test. Presumably, however, the types of grades she receives on an average basis in school are low--in the episode "Quantity Time," Helga tells her parents that she failed another math test at school. Her bad grades are most likely caused by her lack of motivation, attention, and academic concern. However, Helga appears to excel academically in literature classes, as evidenced by Mr. Simmons's constant praise of her literary work. Helga displays a remarkable gift for poetry, creating dramatic soliloquies expressing a situation or feeling with a generous use of vocabulary, especially for someone her age. These instances were more simple in the earlier episodes, but as the series progressed, grew in their intensity. Aside from poetry, Helga exhibits further aspects of cultural experience, being able to identify the work of Edward Hopper and make reference to George Orwell's 1984 in "Helga on the Couch".

[edit] Relationships With Peers

Helga is regarded by most of her peers as a bully. She makes rude remarks and does not hesitate to use or threaten physical force to get her way, which intimidates many of her classmates.

Helga recalls how she first met Arnold in her life on a rainy day to pre-school in the episode "Helga on the Couch"

Arnold

Helga is secretly in love with Arnold, despite the fact that she is constantly teasing him and calling him names (usually 'Football Head', in reference to his rather oddly shaped head). Various episodes have her going to the extreme to prevent her secret from being exposed. One such example is the episode “Helga Blabs it All” in which, under the influence of entonox (laughing gas) from a dental filling, she leaves a love declaration on Arnold’s answering machine. After beating up and taking the clothes of a “Campfire Lass” (equivalent to Girl Scouts of the USA), she pretends to be selling cookies in order to gain entry to Arnold's house and steal the tape before he can hear it. In one of the show's most noteworthy episodes, "Helga on the Couch", she actually discusses her obsession with the school psychiatrist (voiced by Kathy Baker). Herein it is revealed her limerence towards Arnold is the result of transference; where her family relationships were weak, Helga subsequently transferred all feelings of love towards the one person who fulfilled her idea of care, Arnold. This is revealed by a flashback in which during Helga's first day of pre-school, her family seemed to completely ignore her existence, forcing her to make the trek to school alone in the rain and mud. Upon arriving at school, it is Arnold who offers her a helping hand and true kindness.

Helga's secret locket of Arnold's portrait is a recurring object throughout the series that she uses to remind herself of her love for him

Helga confesses her love after being caught helping Arnold, by Arnold, in Hey Arnold!: The Movie though the two both agree afterward that it was in the heat of the moment.

It is also sometimes hinted in the series Arnold has strong feelings for Helga. Events in episodes like "Married", with Arnold's nightmare of married life climaxing with a heartfelt attempt by the dream Helga to express her love, also implies he has as much trouble as Helga has coming to terms with how deep his feelings are. The show's producer, Craig Bartlett, revealed during an Internet chat that had the second movie, The Jungle Movie (which was planned but never produced), been made, Arnold would have realized he and Helga were meant for each other, and finally reciprocated her feelings.

Although Helga has acknowledged her feelings regarding Arnold, she opts to keep them private by publicly denying and rejecting Arnold through displays of verbal abuse. It is suggested in various episodes that Helga treats Arnold as such due to her fear that revealing her true feelings would cause her embarrassment and humiliation. In "Helga On The Couch," Helga also expresses her fear of being rejected by Arnold.

Helga sometimes has brief emotional moments when she shows that she enjoys the presence of Arnold next to her

Brainy

In contrast to Helga's feelings towards Arnold, she is almost always followed by Brainy in each episode, where he is right behind her breathing very hard (usually after one of Helga's emotional monologues). Though it's apparent that he is in love with Helga, she never returns the feelings as mutual; on scant occasions, she has kissed him due to something going right for her. Usually every encounter with Brainy has Helga punching him between the eyes, which became a running gag for the series.

Lila Sawyer

Helga is very jealous of Lila Sawyer, who is the object of Arnold's affections in season 3's "Arnold & Lila" and onwards. Unlike Helga, Lila displays indiscriminating compassion, wit, and stylishness--all qualities Helga outwardly lacks. The two do not get along very well from Helga's perspective. Helga's jealousy of Lila worsens when Olga "adopts" Lila in a "big sisters" program in the episode "Big Sis".

Phoebe Hyerdahl

Phoebe Hyerdahl is Helga's best friend. The conflict between Phoebe's quieter, less demanding personality and Helga's more aggressive one occasionally emerges in episodes such as "Hall Monitor", "Preteen Scream", and "Phoebe Breaks a Leg". Phoebe often follows Helga around, taking down notes and appearing more as an assistant rather than a friend to Helga. However, the two do care about each other, as they listen to each other's concerns and help each other out. Phoebe is understanding of Helga's rocky relationship with her family.

[edit] Appearance

Like the other characters on the show, Helga's attire rarely changes: she usually wears a pink dress over a white shirt and a large pink bow in her hair. She has bright, blonde hair, which she wears in long pigtails without any visible hair ties, and a black unibrow. She has made some appearances in other outfits, though: throughout the show's run, she has dressed up as a French girl, a hall monitor, a sophisticated lady, and others. In the pilot and clay animation shorts, Helga's outfit consists of a dark pink dress with sleeves and a white collar.

[edit] Family

Helga has a very dysfunctional family that does not pay attention to her. It is heavily suggested that Helga's home situation is the root cause of her anti-social behavior.

Robert "Big Bob" Pataki

Her father, a successful pager salesman, rarely notices her existence, favoring her over-achieving, neurotic college-aged sister Olga (Nika Frost), whom Helga rarely gets along with. Helga refers to him as "Bob" or "Big Bob", showing she does not really see him as her father. Big Bob does pay more attention to Helga when city contests occur, but only to serve his own competitiveness or to encourage Helga to become a copy of Olga. In "Spelling Bee", Big Bob has much pride in his family name, pushing Helga to win the trophy that belongs to all of the Patakis. In most episodes, Big Bob will prefer to watch television over listening to Helga, absent-mindedly calling her "Olga" instead. Although Big Bob is far more boorish in personality, he and Helga share some similarities that occasionally bond them. Both enjoy wrestling, ridiculing melodramatic theater, bullying, and eating. They also share similar speaking patterns, though Helga possesses a better command of language. Helga is deeply resentful of Big Bob's excessive attention to Olga.

Miriam Pataki

Her mother, Miriam (Kath Soucie) often gives off hints of being an alcoholic: by being depressed, forgetful, struggling to stay conscious, and frequently drinking "smoothies" and "coffee". Helga also refers to her mother as "Miriam" and relates poorly to her. Though apathetic at home, it is suggested in multiple episodes that Miriam is capable, but stunted by her marriage to an overbearing Big Bob Pataki. In "Olga Gets Engaged", Miriam advises Olga not to make the same marital mistake she did, and in "Road Trip" Miriam reveals that she used to be a rodeo queen. Miriam's abilities are showcased in "The Beeper Queen", where she fills in for Big Bob at his Beeper Emporium when he must stay home due to a back injury. Miriam packs Helga an exceptionally nutritious lunch, shares stories and listens to Helga, and helps Helga with her homework--all implying that Miriam is held back by her unemployment and marriage to Big Bob, affecting Helga's own upbringing.

Olga Pataki

Olga and Helga do not relate to each other well, causing great conflict and resentment between the two. Helga is jealous of Olga's image of perfection and the attention she receives from both Big Bob and Miriam. Olga is kind to Helga, but Helga does not respond to her kindness because she feels it is insincere, as Olga does not listen to Helga's more serious concerns about their family and relationship. Olga condescends to Helga, calling her "baby sister" and refusing to address the problems in their family.

For a brief period, a spin-off series called "The Patakis" was planned. The premise was a continuation of Helga's life into her teenage years with a joint focus on her family. Nickelodeon decided that the idea was too "dark" for the network. MTV considered the show, but ultimately decided that it was too similar to their own production Daria.