Harold Berman

Harold Berman (voiced by Justin Shenkarow), is a fictional character in the Nickelodeon animated television series Hey Arnold!. Thick-set and unintelligent, Harold is a few years older than the rest of the Arnold cast because he was moved back a grade in school several times. Harold is also known to eat a lot, as especially exhibited in the episode "Weighing Harold", in which he puts on an enormous amount of weight. In the episode "Harold the Butcher" it is revealed that Harold has a deep love for meat products. Harold's distinctive features are his considerable stomach and giant misshapen tooth. He is usually seen with Stinky and Sid.

Harold is portrayed as something of a backstabber. One day he is the characters' ally and the next he taunts and bullies them. Harold often gloats of his own intellectual or physical superiority, though usually seconds later he proves himself wrong or is shown up by another character. Harold also has a budding relationship with minor character Patty Smith (voiced by Danielle Judovits). He is of the Jewish faith, as revealed when he invited the other students/friends to his Bar Mitzvah.

Harold is portrayed as tough, but is occasionally shown having a sensitive side (though he denies it in public.) He may also not be as unintelligent as he leads himself to believe. His attendance at the fourth grade, despite his age of 13 years, appears to be strange due to various facts: Harold is seen during several flashbacks dealing with kindergarten events of Arnold's age-group. Being in the same preschool class with the other kids, Harold had to be held back from kindergarten. Considering that Harold might be in fact highly intelligent, this seems to be even more implausible. In "The Aptitude Test" an accidental mix-up in test results suggests he may be a genius (rather than Helga, who got his pathetic test scores in exchange), resulting in him striving to remain true to this fact. However, neither before, nor after the events of this episode, does Harold show any outstanding intellectual skills.

It is also implied that Harold would be related romantically with Rhonda. In the "Operation Ruthless" episode, Rhonda is seen pulling Harold to the Love Tunnel's boat while saying "I know you like me, Harold", as Harold tried to resist. Several episodes later in "Egg Story", Rhonda and Harold are assigned as a couple to take care of an egg. Harold reminds her of their moment in "Operation Ruthless", and Rhonda tries to keep him quiet about it. The egg experience ended with Harold frying the egg and tried to rejoin the shell. Rhonda first got mad and then forgave Harold and both shared a special look to each other.