Stinky Peterson is a supporting character in the Hey Arnold! TV series.
Biography
Stinky is best known for two things: his Southern drawl, and his constant use of the words "bites" (usually with "this" or "this really" put before it) and "I reckon" put before his opinion. He's also known for saying "On account of" before explaining something. He lives in a home that can best be described as a cabin.
Stinky has shown to maintain his principles over power or profit, seeing he turned down a chance to make a million dollars as the Yahoo Soda span "spokes kid" and retired as a child actor because he realized they only wanted him because people would gawk at his "hick" ways. Additionally, he has some talents, which include growing large pumpkins and playing the Alpenhorn ("School Dance"). Note that "Stinky" is his real first name. As revealed in "Helga's Show", he has a love for lemon pudding. In "Arnold Betrays Iggy", it's revealed he tells his classmates every morning why lemon pudding is his favorite pudding.
Appearance
He's a tall, Caucasian male, with short, light-brown crew cut hair, large elf-like ears and a very prominent and pointed nose, who often has a vacant expression on his face. He wears an olive green t-shirt, blue jeans and black shoes with white soles and toes. During the series' intro and first season, he wore black, spiked wristbands.
In Hey Arnold! The Jungle Movie, Stinky wears a brown and green shirt and brown shoes.
Personality
Stinky is a stereotypical country boy and speaks with a Southern accent. Despite this, he is actually much smarter than people think and doesn't like it when people stereotype him as being dumb. Stinky can occasionally act like a jerk as well, often when he's with Harold and Sid. But when he's not with Harold and Sid, Stinky is much more civilized, calm, mild-mannered, mature and serious.
Family
Stinky's family consists of his parents, his Uncle Stinky, his Aunt Stinky, and his grandparents, who are most likely deceased. His mother is only shown three times in "On the Lam", "Parents Day" and "Stinky Goes Hollywood".
Squeaky Peterson, who can be seen in the episode "False Alarm", is presumably Stinky's cousin, due to their similar features and same surname. Stinky also has another cousin named Stinky who attends P.S. 119 and was mentioned in the episode "Fighting Families".
Relationships
Helga Pataki
Stinky had a crush on Helga in "Helga's Boyfriend". The relationship began as Helga paying Stinky a Mr. Nutty candy bar a day to make Arnold jealous. After Stinky messed up in his date with Helga in the library, the skating rink and the park, Helga decided she had enough of Stinky and fired him. Stinky then realized he liked her and hoped she would like him back. After his rejection and subsequent meeting with Gloria, he took Gloria on a date to the movies, and Helga was surprised and somewhat jealous of Stinky's newfound love, although her jealousy quickly subsided in place of her love for Arnold.
Gloria
After Stinky had his advances towards Helga rejected, he came across Gloria at the water fountain at school, and it was love at first sight. Although at some point it appears they broke up, as Stinky starts to become infatuated with Lila later on in the series.
Lila Sawyer
He's shown to have a crush on Lila in "Ms. Perfect", In "Arnold & Lila" Stinky said when he grows up he's gonna ask Lila to be his gal, In "Helga's Masquerade" he addresses Lila as "Miss. Lila" instead of calling her by her first name when she and Helga were walking to school together and during the auditions for the school musical "Eugene, Eugene!", he said to Arnold that he’ll take any part that’ll have him be the opposite of Lila’s character. In "Egg Story", Stinky and Lila were partners for the Egg Baby assignment.
Trivia
- As seen in the ending of "Sid the Vampire Slayer", it’s suggested that Stinky could be a vampire (however, it is more likely a joke).
- Stinky is a terrible singer.[1]
- His last name has been spelled both "Petersen" and "Peterson," but he spelled it with an "O" in "Stinky's Pumpkin".
- It’s implied that Stinky is Christian when he speaks to a "Mystical Disembodied Voice" in a dream, a metaphor for God.[2]
- Promo art of Stinky depicts him being almost bald with stringy hair.
- Stinky has a crush on Lila.[3]
- Stinky's favorite color is green.[4]
- Stinky loves lemon pudding.[5]
- Not counting any of the adults, Stinky is the tallest main character. Strangely despite being 2-4 years older than Stinky, Harold is shorter than him. They could be tall and short for their respective ages.
- Stinky can play the accordion.[6]
- He’s the third character who plays the accordion aside from Big Patty and Ernie Potts.
- Stinky has his name in two episode titles which are Stinky Goes Hollywood and Stinky's Pumpkin.
Appears in
Gallery
Refrences
External links
- Drawing Stinky’s Head: Basic Proportions (3/4 View) on Hey Arnold! - A Critical Analysis by Tendra