Horrid Henry (character)



Henry is the main character of the series and is portrayed as a determined and relentless young boy. He believes that life is unfair as the rest of the world is against him, so he fights "against the tyranny of adults". He is resistant to defeat as teachers, relatives and babysitters in the series try their best to avoid him. Even his parents argue over whose turn it is to look after him.

Henry is selfish, sociopathic, insensitive, lazy, illiterate, dimwitted, stubborn, and rarely learns from his mistakes. He can also be bluntly honest, as seen when he told off his mother's boss by calling her what she calls her at work behind her back and even telling people how much he hates them to their faces. However, he is willing to act nice and collude with Margaret and even Peter, but only if it means he will get to have his own way. Most likely because of his young age, however, Henry can be scared by ghosts or monsters, and in one episode, is revealed to have a fear of needles. He is very imaginative, as he indulges in fantasies, usually transforming into terrifying creatures and attacking the source of his frustrations, and often has "Eureka moments" when the stories mention what he thinks is a "spectacularly wonderful idea". In every story, there is something Henry has to get or do (or occasionally avoid doing) and the ensuing chaos is the consequence of this overriding desire.

Whenever Henry thinks of a plan it is simply to get his own way, never to make trouble purely for its own sake; in fact, he is more often than not seen taking life very seriously and he sincerely believes in what he is doing, making him something of a complex character as well. It has also been further hinted that deep down, Henry has a low opinion of himself, never really means to be horrid, and only acts that way as wanting to get attention and needing to feel important.