Arnold is the main protagonist of the Nickelodeon animated television series Hey Arnold!. His head is shaped like an American football, thus earning him the nickname "Football Head". Throughout the series' run, he was voiced by at least five different voice actors: J.D. Daniels (who did his voice in the pilot), Toran Caudell, Phillip Van Dyke, Spencer Klein (who did his voice in the movie), and Alex D. Linz who did April Fool's Day & "The Journal".
Arnold was created in 1986 by Craig Bartlett, who was also responsible for the clay-animated Penny shorts on CBS's Pee Wee's Playhouse. The original Arnold was visualized as a kid with a vivid imagination, who always wore a prep-school uniform (though he attended public school) and a cap, and was rendered in clay in a series of shorts, one of them televised in the 1990s on Sesame Street, and continued to air there, even after the Nick version debuted.
In 1991, the Hey Arnold comic stories, written and drawn by Bartlett (who's also a comic book artist), were published in Simpsons Illustrated magazine (Bartlett is the brother-in-law of Matt Groening, creator of The Simpsons).
The familiar, cel-animated Arnold came about in the mid-1990s when Nick picked up the new series. Apart from the animation style, Nick's Arnold now wears a sweater, with his plaid shirt untucked (resembling a kilt). Only Arnold's beloved cap remained from the original wardrobe.
Arnold was born in San Lorenzo, in a temple of the mysterious Green-Eyed People during a volcanic eruption. His birth "silenced all of nature" and the volcano.
According to the episode "The Journal", Arnold was born while his parents were on an earlier expedition in the jungle to bring medicine to the natives. His birth coincided with the eruption of a nearby volcano, which the locals believed to be an indication that Arnold would one day become a messiah of sorts who would save the world from a great danger. Arnold was not told of these events until later in the series when it was revealed by his grandfather. It is unknown how the "prophecy" may have fit into the series had it continued.
In a chat, Craig Bartlett mentioned that he was supposed to be semi-worshiped by the Green-Eyed people, and that a football-headed figure is an important symbol for their culture.
He was born on the 7th day of an unknown month ("Married"). Some fans agree that he was born on October 7th, the day the first episode of the series aired for the first time. But that would create a flaw on the history, since Arnold's parents left him on October 5th, and they celebrated his 1st birthday some time before leaving the Boarding House once and for all. Though others believe that Arnold's parents may have disappeared before his second birthday.
Additionally, in a logged chat Craig Bartlett said, "...Arnold is like me in that he has to think things over a long time, before coming to a decision. That I believe is a Libra characteristic. Go Libras." (See the chat transcript) This implies Arnold being a Libra, which would make his birthday fall sometime between September 24th to October 23rd.
Arnold is a fourth grader who lives in a boarding house with his paternal grandparents, Phil and Gertrude, the parents of Arnold's lost father. According to the "Parents Day" and "The Journal" episodes, Arnold's adventurous parents, anthropologist Miles and botonist Stella, were doing missions in the jungle of San Lorenzo when they disappeared.
Arnold is a dreamer and an idealist who always tries to see the best in people and to do the right thing. Whenever he sees someone in trouble, Arnold goes out of his way to help them out, even if it is not sensible to do so (an example being when he tried to protect some of his classmates, who had mooned the school principal). Arnold often acts as the stable center to those around him, whether he is around his "family" in his paternal grandparents' boarding house the Sunset Arms, or around his friends at his school, P.S. 118.
He has a love for music, particularly jazz. He is seen in one episode discussing with his friends various sound systems, owning himself, an advanced sound system. He also taught himself to play harmonica and has played it a few times throughout Seasons 1 and 2. His room contains interesting technology such as a remote control that controls everything in his room, a powerful computer and a collapsible couch. His entire ceiling comprises several skylights as well.
Arnold is also good at sports playing both baseball and American football with his friends at Gerald Field.
