Harper Finkle
| First appearance | "Crazy Ten Minute Sale" , "First Kiss" |
|---|---|
| Created by | Todd J. Greenwald |
| Portrayed by | Jennifer Stone |
| Episode count | 36 (as of August 7, 2009) |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | "What's Her Face" "Harpo" "Finkle" |
| Aliases | Alex Russo |
| Gender | Female |
| Age | 14-15 (season 1)15-16 (season 2) |
| Occupation | Waitress, Fashion designer's assistant, Chicken at a roller rink, Author |
| Title | 9th grade student (season 1),10th grade student (season 2) 11th grade (season 3) |
| Family | unnamed mother, unnamed father,unnamed younger brother |
| Significant other(s) | Justin RussoZeke Rosenblatt |
| Relatives | Franny |
Harper Finkle is a fictional character on the Disney Channel sitcom Wizards of Waverly Place, played by Jennifer Stone. She is the best friend of the show's main character Alex Russo (and has an obsessive crush on Alex's older brother Justin), and is often known for her outrageous fashion ensembles that she designs herself, such as one outfit seen in the season one episode "Credit Check" which resembled a cupcake.
It is noted that Jennifer Stone does not appear as Harper in "You Can't Always Get What You Carpet" (which was actually the first episode produced, but the sixth episode broadcast—the episode was aired out of production order). It is likely that the character of Harper must have been added after the series was picked up by Disney Channel.
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Harper is a typical teenage girl — kind, smart, a bit dorky and a fashion lover. Harper has an extremely large and often (extremely) obsessive crush on Alex's brother Justin (David Henrie), however in earlier episodes, she is afraid of talking to him—though much less so in later episodes of the series. In her mind, Justin is her boyfriend, despite the fact that he has never shown any affection towards her besides friendship; and makes innumerous attempts to make that a reality—sometimes irritating Justin in the process.In "Wizards & Vampires vs. Zombies she also has a crush on Zeke and goes to the prom with him.
In season one's "First Kiss", Harper is jealous of his then-girlfriend Miranda Hampson (who she calls Morticia, played by Lucy Kate Hale), and claims that Justin only dates her because she looks like Harper (which is obviously incorrect) - and she is often jealous of some of Justin's other love interests. Harper has even made gifts for Justin: in season one's "Justin's Little Sister", she makes a bust of Justin's head, and in season two's "Baby Cupid", she designed a sweater for Justin — which happened to be made out of her own hair clippings.
Harper is an avid fashion designer and makes a lot of her own clothes, most of which are not considered to be in style. She implied in one episode that she uses egg cartons to make some of her clothes. The clothes she does buy are also quite dorky such as a sunflower top and rainbow socks. Harper's outfits have also been known to match occasions — in the season one episode "New Employee", Harper applies for a job at the Russo sandwich shop, and goes as far as to wear a shirt with a sandwich on it, a headband with a plastic tomato and lettuce, and french fry earrings. Her clothes were somewhat normal in the first season, but got stranger and more over-the-top in the second season. In season one's "Credit Check", fashion designer Ms. Angela (Julia Duffy) refers to her as "dressed like a giant preschooler", to which Harper took as a compliment (due to the fact that she had "rewired her brain" to turn insults into compliments). Similarly in "Taxi Dance" the head of the cab company that owned the taxi Alex was born in also implied that her fashion sense was childish.
It is implied that she has a dysfunctional family and that her mom does not apreciate her. Such as in "Alex Does Good", when she says "About time for some appreciation, mom" or in "Future Harper" when it is said that her mom thought her dad was cheating on her but he was just sleeping in the car.. She lives with her parents and grandmother. Her parents take separate vacations and they are in therapy. Their therapist said that at some point their house is acceptable to get a pet, so they got a kitten. However, in "Wizards vs. Vampires: Tasty Bites" because her parents were freaking out about health, Alex said "I'm so desperate I'm thinking about going to Harper's house!", implying that her house is wild. Series producer (and President of Disney Channel Worldwide) Gary Marsh said that she would move in with the Russo's (most likely because of her home) in season three.
Harper is very confident in herself. Despite her unseemly fashion choices, she is not afraid to go out in the open, and believes that it is better to stand out as an individual. She is also a loyal friend, and is not scared to back Alex (Selena Gomez) up. In the season two episode "Paint by Committee" one of the Freedom Tunnel Painters, Lane, he says that her art was fuzzy, yummy and delicious.
Harper almost found out that Alex was a wizard in the season one episodes "Alex's Choice" and "The Supernatural". Harper actually finds out that Alex is a wizard in season two's "Harper Knows" after Alex couldn't continue lying to Harper. Harper as an adult (played by Rachel Dratch in season two's "Future Harper") traveled back in time to sell her books about her adventures with Alex, Justin, and Max, claiming that in the future the existence of wizards has been revealed by either Max, Alex, Justin or herself, so wizard books wouldn't be as exciting. She writes under the name H.J. Darling, though it is never specified if she marries someone with the last name Darling in the future, or if it's just a pseudonym she used to keep her identity secret in the present.
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Justin Russo (David Henrie) - Harper's Love Interest for all seasons, though he doesn't return her feelings; except for episodes "Baby Cupid", due to getting shot with Cupid's Arrow.
Zeke Rosenblatt (Dan Benson, season 2-) - Harper revealed she liked him in "Wizards & Vampires Vs Zombies", and they went to the prom together. Zeke returns her feelings.
Episodes Harper Finkle was absent in
- "Disenchanted Evening" - Episode 5
- "You Can't Always Get What You Carpet" - Episode 6
- "Curb Your Dragon" - Episode 8
- "Movies" - Episode 9
- "Pop Me and We Both Go Down" - Episode 10
- "Potion Commotion" - Episode 11
- "Wizard School (1)" - Episode 13
- "Wizard School (2)" - Episode 14
- "Alex in the Middle" - Episode 16
- "Beware Wolf" - Episode 23
- "Saving WizTech (2)" - Episode 28
- "Make It Happen" - Episode 32