NOTE: This page only contains information about the version appearing in the books, because the series and movie have a seperate page, so this page should only contain information on this version.
“
Na Na Ne Na Na!
„
~ Horrid Henry claiming victory
“
Hey, I’ve got a great idea, why don’t we make horrid faces, photocopy them and hang the pictures all around the meeting room?
„
~ Horrid Henry playing with Bossy Bill
Horrid Henry is the titular protagonist of Franesca Simon's book series 'Horrid Henry'. He is a psychopathic and mischievous child who is shown to have strong leadership skills and who is often successful in the plans that he sets out.
Saves Peter from death multiple times - he saves him from a Rottweiler dog who was chasing him as well as saving him from a falling shelf about to fall on Peter. He puts his life on the line.
He generally treats his pet hamster Fang quite well.
Some of the evil things he does are justified - many of the people he pranks have done worse to him (though this is minor considering what Henry's low standard for what is worse than what he does).
What Makes Him Inconsistent?[]
Unlike the series, Henry has many psychopathic traits. For example, when he was a kid he screamed day and night, almost never smiling or going to sleep.
Henry also tried to murder his younger brother Peter several times when Peter was newly born as well. Some of the ways he did this was through trying to mail him away, sending him down a very large hill and trying to fly Peter away on a kite.
He is often very depraved and sadistic. He beats up Weepy William and Anxious Andrew multiple times purely for his own pleasure because he wants to, even when they don't do anything.
He even does the same thing to his little brother Peter, even imagining himself as a dinosaur while doing so. This happens a hell of a lot, to the point where it's a common convention of a Horrid Henry book.
He's often a massive, unapologetic jerk since he isn't genuinely affable to anyone, seeing the Purple Hand Gang purely as underlings unlike his series counterpart and he purely uses them to get what he wants.
Has 0 care for any of his friends - he even steps on Rude Ralph's face after Ralph tries to make a speech and never cares for any of their warnings.
Henry's care for Peter is arguably subverted due to his large mistreatment of him later on in life through physical abuse as well as him attempting to murder Peter previously in life (Though this is debatable).
He often tries to physically abuse his parents when they don't give him what he want, though this usually backfires in an incompetent fashion.
He is incredibly egocentric due to him constantly talking about becoming King where he intends to be a tyrannical dictator who enslaves his own parents, brother, friends and even his own pet Fang.
Even if he had redeeming qualities, he is far too mischievous for NPG or PG, constantly pulling pranks and schemes towards his peers.
These pranks are generally worse than his series counterpart as well - while his series counterpart does lots of things by accident, and is considered a scapegoat by many, Henry in the books is far more methodical and purposeful in his actions. To make it worse, he actually gets punished less than in the series.
He is also incredibly pragmatic and manipulative due to his acts of resorting to constant manipulating and lies to achieve his goals.
Receives far less abuse from his parents in the books - while they are often careful around him and are generally more blaming to him, this is far more understandable considering this Henry's vastly different personality. He tried to murder his own little brother - it's understandable they'd be wary.
Henry's parents are right much more often with this Henry as well whenever they blame him for something.
Trivia[]
Henry's series counterpart is considered far more admirable than Henry's book counterpart - Henry's series counterpart is a genuine anti-hero with many redeeming qualities and is far more toned down in that series.
Ironically, he is the only Horrid Henry character considered IA for both the TV and book series.