User blog comment:Sarcastic Don/Character Appreciation - Week 23: Harold/@comment-4726418-20170604084358

Harold is and has always been by far one of my favorite characters and actually my outright absolute FAVORITE up until the Ice Dancers came along. The weird thing is that despite that I never really got to voice why exactly I loved him so much but now I can. But where do I even start?

First off, the design. TD was always intent on making as many characters as they could stand out in their own way and Harold is one of the key examples of this. The scrawny poise, the straight yet all over the place hair, the oddly green-colored glasses, the nose, the facial hair, everything. Just by looking at Harold you can already easily see how much he sticks out, at least when he's alongside the original cast anyway. If anyone embodies the geeky dork persona masterfully enough, it's gotta be him.

And how can I mention Harold without bringing up just how hilarious he is? Harold brings a sense of abstract humour to TD that I don't think can ever really be replicated by any other contestant. What I respect when writing jokes about him in particular is that they're almost always exclusive to his personality. His mannerisms, tone of voice, and voice acting make the jokes he gets what they are and add to their appeal.

And then there's his interactions, which are among my favorites in the show. Whether it be his sparring with Duncan, his reluctant and begrudging frenemyship with Heather, and of course Leharold, which I honestly wish got more praise for how dedicated Harold really is to show how much he cares for her along with her looking out for him even when not going out with him.

But although Harold is a born loser with hilariously terrible social tendencies, it only causes the moments where he does succeed to truly stick out in my mind as several of the best moments in the show. I still have the memories of him punching Duncan in the face after he compared Leshawna to a freight train, or his epic comebacks at dodgeball or beatboxing, saving everyone's lives from drowning, or the best moment of TDI for me, which was where he dramatically rigged the votes against Courtney in order to make Duncan suffer after he pranked him like a dozen times<3.

My favorite thing about Harold though, no surprise here, is the personality. Harold unveils his gloriously geeky side constantly but his openness and confidence about it just adds so much to the charm he has. He's a nerd and proud to say the least and for a scrawny person he actually has a lot of backbone when challenged (Ba-dum-tschh.)

Like Katie said, Harold is the best underdog the show has ever had. But that's because he relishes in it. He takes pride in it. While people may laugh at the things he comes out with sometimes, his total confidence in himself and his 'mad skills' is just charming. This show may have given us many underdogs, but Harold is the OG one for sure.

Best Moment: Asking Leshawna to make out with the bushes with him RIGHT after breaking up with him <3

Best Season: Total Drama Action

Best Episode: Total Drama Drama Drama Drama Island or Super Hero-ld