Helga G. Pataki

First appearance Downtown as Fruits

Created by Craig Bartlett
Portrayed by Francesca Marie Smith

Information

Nickname(s) Pataki
Gender Female
Age 9 (beginning of series)
Occupation 4th grade student
Family Big Bob Pataki (father)
Miriam Pataki (mother)
Olga Pataki (sister)
Spouse(s) Arnold (in possible future)


PERSONALITY

Helga is 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 is also very cynical and something of a bully, bossing around her fourth-grade classmates with an iron fist (especially her best friend, Phoebe). Despite this, she is heavily emotional, being able to comprehend spectrum emotions such as love and hate. This emotional extremity is a running joke throughout the series, as Helga is often the first to go into hysterics in times of crisis.

Helga is also extremely intelligent. In the episode "The Aptitude Test", where the class takes a standardized exam, it is eventually revealed that Helga achieved a perfect score on the test unlike anyone else and the most outstanding result since Olga Pataki took the test. Helga's consistent bad grades at school however, are most likely caused by her apparent lack of motivation, attention and academic concern. Her family seems not to care about this issue (as seen in the episode "Quantity Time"). Yet Helga has shown her potential on several occasions, among others being a spelling bee finalist and having the confidence to win the only competition her sister failed at (although, she did not follow through on the latter by actually competing). She also displays a gift for poetry, repeatedly making 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".

It is revealed in "April Fool's Day" that Helga was born sometime in late March. Arnold presents her with a small gift on April First, telling her that it's for her birthday which was "last week".